Taco Bell Sued for Mystery Meat

One can almost imagine Gidget, the late Taco Bell Chihuahua, imploring, "Yo quiero más carne de vacuno" or "I want more beef."

More beef? A lawsuit filed in California's Central District court accuses the Mexican-inspired fast food taco chain of false advertising: Their "meat mixture" actually contains less beef than the United States Department of Agriculture allows to be called "ground beef."

The lawsuit was filed

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last Friday by a Montgomery, Ala., law firm on behalf of California resident, Amanda Obney, according to the Associated Press. Obney isn't looking for money. She wants Taco Bell, which is owned by parent company Yum! Brands, to be a little more forthcoming in its advertising.

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"The meat mixture sold by Taco Bell restaurants contains binders and extenders," reported AP, "and does not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as 'beef,' according to the legal complaint."

Mm-mmm. So, what exactly are the USDA's requirements? A quick search over the USDA web site pulled up this:

"Combinations of ground beef or hamburger and soy products may be descriptively labeled, e.g., —Hamburger and Textured Vegetable Protein Product" or —Ground Beef and Isolated Soy Protein Product "if the combination product is not nutritionally inferior to hamburger or ground beef. If the combination products are nutritionally inferior, they are to be labeled as Imitation Ground Beef (or Imitation Hamburger) or Beef Patty or Beef Patty Mix in accordance with Section 9 CFR 317.2(j)(1) and Section 9 CFR 319.15(c) respectively."

That seems like a lot of performance pressure on a fast-food taco. Taco Bell officials, however, insist they have not misled anyone.

"At Taco Bell, we buy our beef from the same trusted brands you find in the supermarket, like Tyson Foods," said the company's president, Greg Creed in a statement released Tuesday."We start with 100 percent USDA-inspected beef. Then we simmer it in our proprietary blend of seasonings and spices to give our seasoned beef its signature Taco Bell taste and texture. We are proud of the quality of our beef and identify all the seasoning and spice ingredients on our website."

Taco Bell doesn't plan to take the allegations about their beef lightly, Creed warned.

"Unfortunately, the lawyers in this case elected to sue first and ask questions later -- and got their 'facts' absolutely wrong," he added."We plan to take legal action for the false statements being made about our food."